le_quiet_uno

G'day Ladies & Gents,

I have been popping in and out of here to see what's new in the RX8 forum and have tried many time to pursuade my brother to take a look at the RX8 as we are sharing the car. Now we are in a little dilenma here and was hoping fellow RX8 members would be able to give us a tip or two.

Due to the limited fund that we have (i.e. $35K ~ $40K), we have narrowed own to the following:

- BWM 320 or 23ci 99 ~ 00 (Second Hand)
- Honda Accord Euro 03 ~ 04 (Second Hand)
- Mazda RX8 03 (Second Hand)
- Nissan Maxima Ti 04 ~ 05 (Demo)

My prefer choice is the Beemer or the 8 as they are more of a driver oriented car. We have recently went through the carsales and managed to locate one yellow RX8 to fit in our budget. Just wondering what are the things to look out for when buying a second hand RX8? Would I get value for money if I do get this particular yellow RX8 (not our prefer colour but with limited fund, can't compliant too much )?

Yellow RX8

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could provide any feed back. Many thanks in advance!

Now fellows, fire away!

Revolver

Welcome.

Seems like a reasonable deal to me.

As ever with secondhand cars a mechanical inspection before purchase is a must.

You should also check it has had all the recall work done (see the recall thread in the sticky section).

Anybody aware of specific things to watch out for?

le_quiet_uno

Revolver,

Thanks for you input! :D

Just in relation to the mechanical inspection, I have spoken to a mechanic and he has told me that some off the minor can be covered up by little tweak here and there. Buyer or Mechanic will not pick them up in a short period of time. However, the longer you have the car the more prononuce the problem would be. Is that possible?

Sorry.. still quite a newbie when it comes to cars :P

timbo

Just check it is in fact the leather pack -- the pic suggests this but the specs are silent.

Find out the servicing dealer and see if you can get access to its full service history

How much warranty left? I assume at least 9 mths

le_quiet_uno

Thanks for your tips Timbo.

Reading through seller's comment, it mentioned something like 3 year warranty left with that car.

I guess the best way to find out is to check out the car in person.

Zephyr

i had a look...
seems to be a lady owner, might have problems with the flooding issues before, due to didn't warm up the car properly before turning it off...

maybe thats the reason for the sale. so might want to check spark plugs, stronger battery etc...

but other than that, it seems to be ok

RXE16T

I've seen that car driving around Sydney on a number of occasions (recognise the plates) and it's always being driven by some young guy.

I guess my 8 can be classified as a 'one lady owner' as well since it's registered in my missus' name (even though she's not allowed to touch the car).

Gomez

Maybe I'm out of the loop when it comes to second hand prices.....but that seems an awfully cheap car? I'm a little suspicious.......has it been accident damaged?

timbo

That's what I thought -- seems below market for a leather pack -- cloth pack maybe?

Slick8

The day the warranty runs out on the Bimmer is when everything starts to break... usually happens at the 4 or 5 year. Good luck.

takahashi

Yellow and lady....

is that the one with the 20" alloy?

EZZY>?????

RXE16T

Nah, the one for sale belongs to a young Chinese couple....... not our mates with the bling.

NickG

I'm an ex owner of the E46 BMW 325i with BMW sports suspension ( = same setup as 325ci). You might find the following comments useful in comparing this vehicle to the RX8.

Pro's for the E46 Bimmer is that its an unbelievably "complete", balanced car. By this I mean that it is essentially without flaw. Build quality, finish, engine, driver interface, refinement, suspension, comfort are all incredibly well sorted. The car simply reeks of engineering development $$$.

The RX-8's attributes are more unevenly spread, but what it does well, it does extremely well. The interior finish is not up to E46 standards, and the car is less refined, BUT:

- performance is significantly better. Despite the rotary's lack of torque, it feels consistently punchier through the gears ALL the time.
- Steering and balance is better than the Bimmer. The Bimmer feels very "planted" and solid on the road, but the RX-8 feels much more agile and responsive. Put that down to the low centre of gravity and low polar moment of inertia achievable with the ultra compact rotary engine
- on really demanding uneven and bumpy roads with difficult camber changes etc the RX-8 has much better suspension control. On roads were the Bimmer bucks and weaves, the RX-8 simply demolishes the bumps. It's damping and compliance is simply awesome.
- lastly, the RX-8 has character+++ in spades. The Bimmer is a car you grow to admire and respect for its sheer engineering depth. The Rx-8, on the other hand, is an involving, party animal of a car. In a nutshell - less pretentious and much more fun to drive and own.

Revolver

And with the $10-15K you save on purchase price (new), you can take your pick from the FI tree.

skc

That is a very cheap price for an 8. Mechanically so far the 8 has proven itself with most enthusists pushing the perfomance envelope and finding the car is almost unbreakable.

My main concern when buying second hand is accident repair. Only an expert can determine this or a careful scrutiny under bright sunlight. However with a yellow you may need shades to prevent blinding

Good luck

skc

Revolver

Hmm, at the risk of offending the yellow owners, could I suggest that bright yellow cars have never enjoyed good resale because the market for them is limited.

<ducks>

le_quiet_uno

Much appreciate it for all the tips from you all.

Zephyr: When you said that you had a look. Did you mean that you had a look in person? If so, do you think it would be a value for money car to buy? I have read through the forum trying to understand what cause the 8 to flood. If my memory serves right, there are a couple of people trying to flood their 8 unintentionally and they have commented it is actually quite hard to do so.

RXE16T: I always worry when the advertisment says "Lady Owner". I have seen a couple of my female friends drive their car. They are worse than us *guys*. (No offence to any females in here. I am only commenting on what I saw.) I would say if they are selling their car, I would stay the hell away from them. Your 8 is under your missus name?! How and why?!

Gomez: That's what I thought as well.. I have been looking around for a second hand one for a while and this is the cheapest second hand I have come across. Perhaps it has been in a major accident?

Slick8: Really?! I have always thought that BMW would last for yonks as they are very well engineered.

RXE16T: Chinese lady drive an 8? Humm... that's going to be a small circle. Perhaps I could find out a thing or two from my Asian connection.

Lazymark: That's a great idea! Could anyone please confirm whether that is do able?

NickG: Thank you very much for that fantastic analysis between these two cars. I have been in a 330ci the other day. It felt fantastically solid and hugs the road like nothing. The only thing now is down to the $$, maintanece cost and whether the car will turn into a sour lemon in five to eight years time.

Revolver: Going down FI route would be the last thing on my mind at the moment. I have never been in the a 8 before and from the paper, I would think the car has enough grunt for day-to-day drive and occational spirit drive through the twisty road. Personally, I would probably go down the suspension and brake setup route prior making any power upgrade. But thanks for the thoughts!

SKC: Perhaps there is an easier solution, take the car down to a dealer and pretend that you are the owner thinking of getting rid of the car. Then get the dealer to check the car out, we then should be able to determine whether the car has been in the accident. Good idea? Only a thought.

Revolver: You are right in your comment. A lot of people likes attention but only to certain extend. A friend of mine bought a yellow type R thought that it was a good idea. Well at the time it was. Until every car on the street would want to give him a go when all he wants is just a leisure cruise around. He ended up selling it after 6 months and lost about $8,000 to $10,000 because of the colour.

Well thank you all for your comments. Now it's time to do a bit more research.

EZZY

bugger, the car is sold
keep looking, there must be another one for sale soon.
alternatively, i'd look at the beemer too. it is the e46 series right?

Revolver

One request - please use a bigger and more legible font.

I appreciate you wish to be different but making it harder to read is not the kind of different you should be going for.

le_quiet_uno

Ezzy,

I'm always on a look out for a good RX8 but due to fund restrain, I have missed many 8 that was on sales a while back.

I have been to the Pennant Hills dealer on the weekend and been in a couple of the E46 coupes. The cars felt great and very comfortable but the price was a bit out of reach. But had a chance to hop into a white E46 M3 in the showroom. I can sum the whole experience in one word "WOW"! The car felt amzaing just sitting in there..

le_quiet_uno

Revolver,

Sorry, just thought that I will fit in every with a small font and unfortunately I have done a terrible job at it. Moving forward, I will make sure it's legible for everyone :D

Revolver

Cool, my overused eyes thank you.